


reach out, it could be sweeter than a cavity (or just as painful)

by InsideMyBrain



Category: Star Trek: Lower Decks (Cartoon)
Genre: Banter, Dialogue Heavy, Drinking, Episode: s01e02 Envoys, F/M, Gen, Rocky Horror Picture Show References, Sexual Humor, Teasing, Unresolved Romantic Tension, apparently I cant write them NOT at the bar lmfao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25983073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideMyBrain/pseuds/InsideMyBrain
Summary: "I mean, come on. It's too good to be true," Mariner continues. "This gorgeous woman comes up to you on an alien planet and just starts macking on you out of nowhere?"Boimler huffs. "That kinda thing has happened to a ton of notable Starfleet officers, I just thought it was my turn!"
Relationships: Brad Boimler & Beckett Mariner, Brad Boimler/Beckett Mariner
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	reach out, it could be sweeter than a cavity (or just as painful)

**Author's Note:**

> alternate ending for episode 2, or maybe this takes place before boimler starts telling everyone abt mariner's "mistake" with the Ferengi? not too sure, so choose whichever u like better, lol.

Mariner laughs, full of an inside joke with herself, and Boimler feels for a moment like he's listening to her from another room, even though he's sitting right beside her at the bar. "You can make fun of me for the Ferengi thing all you want, dude, but I _gotta_ bring up the Anabaj."

"Oh, God." Boimler feels his cheeks heating. It was bad enough that the woman - creature? - embarassed him in the square earlier that day, but the fact it was in front of his insufferably cooler-than-him co-worker had to be the worst part. _This boy wants Jamaharon!_ \- Jesus Christ, that'll be echoing in his socially anxious nightmares for weeks.

"I mean, come on. It's too good to be true," Mariner continues. "This gorgeous woman comes up to you on an alien planet and just starts macking on you out of nowhere?"

Boimler huffs. "That kinda thing has happened to a ton of notable Starfleet officers, I just thought it was my turn!" He knocks back what's left in his glass. "And _don't_ tell me that's already happened to you, that'd just be the cherry on top."

"Okay then, I won't tell you." Mariner shrugs, grinning. "So, Jamaharon, huh?" She wiggles her eyebrows, and Boimler groans.

"Yeah, I'm shutting this conversation down," he says quickly.

"Oh that's okay, I can well imagine." He glares, but her smile only grows. "Oh, _Brad_..." she mocks in a simpering falsetto, then cuts herself off with a burst of laughter. "Oh my God, wait, I take it back, I _cannot_ imagine your name being sexy in any context."

"Damn, is it really take swings at Boimler's ego day today?" he mutters.

"It could be," Mariner winks conspiratorially.

"No, thank you."

Mariner clasps her hands beside her cheek and looks off into the distance dramatically, but the smirk pulling at the corners of her lips betrays the irony in the gesture. "Brad, I'm _mad_ , for you too!" she sings, then bursts out laughing again.

"Excuse me?" Boimler asks, bemused.

"You know, from Rocky Horror?" When he just stares back at her blankly, she prods him lightly. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Classic Earth movie?" Boimler just shakes his head, and she whistles. "Damn, we've gotta watch it at some point. Ooh, I bet Tendi's never seen it either - we can totally make a night of it!"

"Sure," Boimler says, watching her finish her own drink, his grimace from earlier softening into something like an affectionate smile. Not that he would let her see it - he's still annoyed from being wrong all day, no matter how good the vindication of the Ferengi incident made him feel. He glances away quickly as she senses his eyes on her, curious and soft.

He and Mariner are polar opposites in a lot of ways, but so similar it's frightening in others: they both need to prove themselves, they both care deeply about how they're perceived, and - he knows this deep in his core, even if Mariner's never told him - they're both terrified of vulnerability. While her badassery is undoubtedly genuine there's still something mask-like about it, and he thinks can sense this because he, too, uses amplified facets of his personality to misdirect from his real insecurities. He gestures for a top-up for his synthehol, thinking that perhaps he's the one person she knows who isn't fooled, and that's why she's trying so hard with him. The thought scares and excites him at the same time - there's so much to share between them, so much to gain and so much to lose. So much to ruin.

She lowers her glass and plunks it down on the bar with a self-satisfied sigh. The bartender refills her glass after his, and she picks it up again, tilting it towards him with a twinkle in her eye. Boimler raises his own and clinks their glasses together, raising his eyebrows.

So much to ruin, so he might as well start now.


End file.
